Nowhere Baths by Type0 Architecture
Nowhere Baths by Type0 Architecture is a gender-inclusive bathhouse in Singapore’s Dempsey Hill, set within a refurbished colonial-era barrack in a former military compound.
Rather than treating the building as a shell to be erased, the project works with its inherited character and the dense forest edge around it, shaping a restorative interior that feels both grounded and porous.
The experience is organised as a sequence of thermal and sensory shifts. Temperature, humidity, light, and texture change in measured steps, guiding visitors from arrival to bathing, then back toward a quieter state. Throughout, the architecture holds the body closely. Elliptical, sculpted volumes create pockets of enclosure, soften edges, and lend the spaces a calm, protective geometry.
Clean apertures are cut into the façade to frame the jungle as a constant presence, without heavy thresholds or decorative framing. Views become part of the interior atmosphere, with softened light and carefully positioned openings allowing the forest to register as colour, movement, and depth. Infinity pools and framed vistas extend the sense of immersion, keeping the boundary between inside and outside deliberately thin.
At one end of the plan, an outdoor deck opens directly to the trees, giving the ritual a pause point that is fully exposed to the sounds and scent of the landscape. At the other, an indoor integration zone offers a more introspective counterbalance. Warm timber underfoot and an open, adaptable layout support rest and low-intensity practices such as meditation, sound therapy, breathwork, or yoga. Together, these two spaces act as bookends that slow the transition back into daily life.
Material changes are central to how the project is read underfoot and at hand. A threshold of velvety microcement meeting tactile pebble-wash flooring heightens awareness of movement from exterior to interior. Deeper inside, sandy-textured stucco wraps the sculpted forms, creating a grounded, cavern-like ambiance that intensifies toward the changing areas.
The changing room is intentionally more animated. Deep terracotta tiles and corrugated aluminium introduce density, colour, and a sharper acoustic edge, reflecting the energy of circulation and preparation. These materials also tie back to Dempsey’s layered history, with terracotta recalling nearby clay roof tiles and corrugated metal referencing the barrack structures that once defined the area. Reclaimed solid timber elements reinforce that continuity, bridging past and present without turning the interior into a literal historical reproduction.
Beyond this point, the bath zone quietens. Walls, floors, and ceilings shift to a restrained, monochromatic palette of microcement and textured plaster, reducing visual noise and allowing steam, water, and shadow to take precedence. Warm, indirect cove lighting deepens the calm, while large openings and precisely framed views bring the forest back into focus, creating a steady conversation between enclosure and exposure.
